ALTERNATIVE · HOOTSUITE
Looking for a Hootsuite alternative?
Here is the honest comparison.
Hootsuite is a full social media suite: scheduling, an inbox, listening and analytics, from $99 per user a month billed yearly (Standard, up to 10 accounts). Its free plan ended in March 2023. OwlyWriter AI writes captions on every plan. You still decide what to post and make the visuals. PaperFlight is an AI CMO for a small business: it plans, writes, designs and publishes every post itself.
THE SHORT ANSWER
Choose Hootsuite if…
A team runs social for several brands and needs one inbox, listening, approvals and reporting across many accounts — the work of a social media department.
Choose PaperFlight if…
You are the marketing department. You need the posts made and published every day, well, without hiring — not a suite to run yourself.
Hootsuite vs PaperFlight
Price
- Hootsuite
- Standard $99 · Professional $199 per user a month, billed yearly · Advanced up to $399
- PaperFlight
- $199 a month founding (list $299) — every channel
Free plan
- Hootsuite
- No — ended 31 March 2023
- PaperFlight
- 7 days free, no card
Trial
- Hootsuite
- 14 days, no card
- PaperFlight
- 7 days, no card
Decides what to post
- Hootsuite
- PaperFlight
- Yes — the CMO, toward your goal
Writes the captions
- Hootsuite
- Helps — OwlyWriter AI, every plan
- PaperFlight
- Yes — a version per channel, in your voice
Designs the graphics and video
- Hootsuite
- OwlyGPT can make and edit images; you assemble the post
- PaperFlight
- Yes — in your colours, fonts and logo, with voiced video
Inbox, listening, team reports
- Hootsuite
- PaperFlight
Approvals
- Hootsuite
- From Advanced
- PaperFlight
- Yes — or let it publish on its own
Channels
- Hootsuite
- All eight of ours, and more
- PaperFlight
- LinkedIn, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky
Rating
- Hootsuite
- G2 4.3 (7,827 reviews) · Capterra 4.4 (3,798)
- PaperFlight
- New
Hootsuite shows yearly-billed prices; its monthly-billed price appears at checkout, so we don't quote one. Ratings seen 6 October 2026. Check hootsuite.com/plans before deciding.
Built for a social team, priced per person
Hootsuite earns its price for a team: one inbox for every account, listening, approvals, reports for a client or a boss. A founder on their own pays for that machine and still has to fill it every day.
A scheduler publishes the post you bring it. PaperFlight is the one that brings the post: it decides what to say, writes it, designs it in your brand, publishes it and reads the results.
What PaperFlight does differently
PaperFlight is an AI CMO with its own team: a CMO that plans the week toward your goal, a Researcher, a Writer, a Designer that makes every post in your colours, fonts and logo, a Publisher that posts to LinkedIn, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Threads and Bluesky, and an Analyst that reads the results and tells the CMO what to change.
Where Hootsuite is better
- A shared inbox for comments and messages across every account.
- Social listening and team reporting.
- Many users, many brands, and approval chains for an agency or a department.
WHAT IT MAKES · EXAMPLE
Posts in your look, every morning.
Three posts PaperFlight's Designer made for PaperFlight's own brand — the same team makes yours, in your colours, fonts and logo.
What buyers ask.
- Does Hootsuite have a free plan?
- No. Hootsuite ended its free plan on 31 March 2023; it offers a 14-day trial.
- How much does Hootsuite cost?
- Standard is $99 per user a month and Professional $199, billed yearly; Advanced is up to $399. Standard covers up to 10 accounts.
- What is a good Hootsuite alternative for a small business?
- If you want the posts made for you, PaperFlight. If you want a cheaper scheduler for posts you already make, Buffer or Later.
- Can I try PaperFlight free?
- Yes — 7 days, no card.
Hire the team. Keep your mornings.
7 days free, no card. Your CMO drafts the first post today; you approve it, or let it run on its own.
Last checked 6 October 2026. Prices of other products are as their sites showed on that day and change often — check before you buy. Product names belong to their owners; PaperFlight is not affiliated with them.